Disney's scrapped Monsters, Inc. 2 would’ve married off Mike and aged up Boo
The writers of a canceled Monsters, Inc. 2 just revealed their shelved script, and it’s a doozy: Mike gets married, Sulley gets promoted, and an older Boo pulls Mike and Sulley into the human world. Here’s the full story of “Lost in Scaradise,” why it never happened, and why it suddenly matters again.
Ever wonder what a direct sequel to Pixar’s beloved Monsters, Inc. might have looked like? Thanks to the writers of a long-scrapped follow-up, we finally have the answer, and it sounds genuinely delightful.
In a new interview, the screenwriters behind a canceled Monsters, Inc. 2 pulled back the curtain on their shelved script, revealing grown-up character arcs, a clever reversal of the original’s story, and a wild behind-the-scenes reason it never got made. Here’s everything they shared.
The scrapped sequel: Lost in Scaradise
The unmade film, titled Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, came from writers Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir (the duo behind Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue), who turned in their script around 2004. Speaking with TheWrap, they laid out where they’d planned to take Mike, Sulley, and Boo.
The big beats: Mike Wazowski was getting married, Sulley had climbed the ranks to become a top executive at Monsters, Inc., and, most intriguingly, Boo was back, older now, and about to pull the boys on an adventure. In short, it was a story about our favorite monsters growing up.
The plot was a clever flip of the original
Here’s the part that makes fans wish it had happened. Set about a year after the first movie, the story sees Mike and Sulley heading off to surprise Boo on her birthday with a gift. But when they arrive at her bedroom door, they discover Boo’s family has moved away.
So the pair venture into the human world to track her down, and end up trapped there. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a brilliant inversion of the first film: instead of Boo being lost and scared in the monster world, it’s now Mike and Sulley who are the fish out of water in our world.
Reportedly, there was even a clever rule that only humans who still believed in monsters could see them, meaning most adults couldn’t, adding to the comedy and the challenge. And Mike’s looming wedding gave the whole thing a ticking clock: find Boo and get back in time to say “I do.”
Why it never got made
The reason Lost in Scaradise died has nothing to do with the script’s quality, and everything to do with one of the most famous feuds in Hollywood history. Back in the mid-2000s, Disney and Pixar were at war. Then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Pixar’s Steve Jobs were clashing bitterly over their contract.
In response, Eisner created a Disney studio called Circle 7, specifically to crank out sequels to Pixar’s films without Pixar’s involvement. Hilgenberg and Muir were hired to write Circle 7’s versions of both Monsters, Inc. 2 and Toy Story 3. But when Bob Iger replaced Eisner and Disney simply bought Pixar outright in 2006, Circle 7 was shut down, and both scripts were shelved. (Pixar went on to make its own, beloved Toy Story 3 instead.) In a fun bit of trivia, the writers say their pitch was the very last creative meeting Eisner ever took at Disney.
Instead, we got a prequel
Rather than a direct sequel, the Monsters, Inc. franchise eventually went backward in time. In 2013, Pixar released Monsters University, the prequel showing how Mike and Sulley first met as college students and became best friends. It was later followed by the Disney+ series Monsters at Work.
Both are fun, but as many fans have noted, neither scratches quite the same itch as a true sequel would have, one that follows Mike, Sulley, and an older Boo forward into the next chapter of their lives. That’s exactly what makes Lost in Scaradise such a tantalizing what-if.
Why this suddenly matters again
Here’s the timely twist: the writers aren’t just reminiscing, they’re actively campaigning to get their movie made. “Call Pixar, tell them to make our version,” Hilgenberg joked. “Show up with signs, Bob and Rob’s draft!”
And their timing might be perfect. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Pixar is quietly developing a real Monsters, Inc. sequel, sometimes referred to as Monsters, Inc. 3, though Disney hasn’t officially confirmed it.
With original director Pete Docter now leading Pixar, and the studio clearly open to revisiting the monster world, the writers are hoping their two-decade-old ideas might finally get a second look. Given how naturally a sequel would revisit an older Boo and a grown-up Mike and Sulley, some overlap seems almost inevitable.
The scrapped Monsters, Inc. 2: what it comes down to
The tale of Lost in Scaradise is a bittersweet peek at a wonderful movie that almost was, one derailed not by bad ideas, but by corporate warfare between two studios that would soon become one. Mike’s wedding, Sulley’s promotion, and a grown-up Boo leading her old friends on a human-world adventure? That’s a sequel plenty of fans would have lined up for.
Whether Pixar ever dusts off Bob and Rob’s draft, or crafts something entirely new for its rumored Monsters, Inc. 3, the appetite is clearly there. Twenty years later, fans still want to know what happened to Boo. Maybe it’s finally time we found out.
Some doors are worth reopening. This one especially.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
TheWrap (July 2026), the originating interview, verified for the core details (writers Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir revealing their scrapped Monsters, Inc. 2 script titled Lost in Scaradise, with Mike getting married, Sulley promoted to a top executive, and an older Boo returning; their “we stand by that script” and “Call Pixar, tell them to make our version” quotes; and the note that their pitch was reportedly the last creative meeting Michael Eisner took at Disney)
ScreenRant, Laughing Place, and Collider (2024-2026), verified for the plot and history (the story set about a year after the original with Mike and Sulley visiting Boo for her birthday, discovering her family moved, and venturing into the human world where they become trapped; the reversal of the first film’s premise; the rule that only believing humans could see monsters; the Circle 7 studio created amid the Michael Eisner-Steve Jobs feud to make Pixar sequels without Pixar; the writers also penning a Circle 7 Toy Story 3; and the collapse of those plans after Bob Iger’s Disney acquired Pixar in 2006)
The Main Street Mouse and ComicBook (2026), verified for the current context (the franchise instead going the prequel route with 2013’s Monsters University and the Monsters at Work series; reports earlier in 2026 that Pixar is quietly developing a Monsters, Inc. sequel referred to as Monsters, Inc. 3 with no Disney confirmation; Pete Docter now leading Pixar; and Pixar’s officially announced slate of Gatto in 2027 and Incredibles 3 in 2028), with the sequel development treated as reported and unconfirmed